Roughly 10 years ago a couple of Swedish friends founded what was to become one of the most influential labels on the progressive psychedelic trance scene. The label was named Digital Structures, and the friends were Sebastian, Marcus and Peter – Sebastian and Marcus were also behind the project Son Kite (and later also Minilogue) and Peter was later to become known worldwide as DJ Peter Didjital/Digital. Through the years the label – on a musical level - went from success to success with their releases. From the first vinyls and CD compilations to the long list of albums from artists like Vibrasphere, Vibrasphere, Ticon, Tegma and Jaïa, which practically all became classics in many people’s eyes. To explore progressive house, tech house and downbeat the sidelabels Vsual, Baluns and Chillosophy were even also established.

The financial but was a bit trickier though. Rapidly declining music-sales led to the downfall of several distributors, the Son Kite duo found other genres to explore with their Minilogue-project and eventually the label closed down...

... Until now.

Two of Israels busiest techno and progressive DJ’s/producers today, Avishay Balter (A.Balter) and Yuli Fershtat (Perfect Stranger/BLT), have taken up the difficult task of continuing with the once so mighty label. Both are rooted in the psychedelic trance scene, but are today making a blend of melodic, progressive and sometimes minimal techno which will also be the focus on the new Digital Structures. The first release is out in a few weeks, and here’s my impression of it.

01. A. Balter vs. Eitan Reiter – iRich [125 BPM]
“iRich” is made by A. Balter and Eitan Reiter (also known as part of the psychedelic trance project Loud), and it has a subtle psychedelic trance influenced techno-sound. I guess you can say that these guys along with Perfect Stranger has made a quite unique fusion of melodic, almost melancholic techno with influences from the psychedelic trance of the past in terms of pads and some effects – very suitable for outdoor parties, and quite different from the more intense and very popular power-minimal with the rolling, quite stressful percussion and big white-noise-effects. “iRich” is yet another fine example of what interesting things can happen when psychedelic trance meets other genres. A deep, beautiful headtrip of a tune that fuses the past with the present.

02. A. Balter vs. Eitan Reiter – iRich (Andreas Henneberg Remix) [126 BPM]
On the remix is Andreas Henneberg from Germany – a man with releases on a long list of key labels such as Toolroom, Ideal Audio, Noir Music and even Ministry Of Sound, as well as being a part of the project The Glitz. The biggest change in his version of “iRich” is in the groove – it is less straightforward compared to the original mix and has a dirtier, swaggering tech house rhythm to it. The main pad/theme from the original is still maintained though, and is accompanied with some complementary funky stabs. I would say this is more suited for the clubs – a tune for the body, while the original is for the mind.

Bottom line:

When rating a release the main focus should of course be on the music itself – after all, this is all that matters. When re-launching a label like Digital Structures (which has a special position for many people) I also think it’s fair to take other things into account and ask some questions though: Is it true to the Digital Structures sound? Why is this released on Digital Structures? Is there a concept behind this? Could this just as well have been released on another label?

For starters - yes, this could just as well have been released on another label, and no it doesn’t sound like the old Digital Structures – but actually nothing does anymore. I do believe that A. Balter and Perfect Stranger have a plan with this label – to really try to stay true to the original label, but give it a new twist, and I guess there is a starting point for anything. With time, I hope that Digital Structures will develop into a playground for the Israeli duo to really explore and develop their own sound with no restrictions, except respect for the vision of the original label.

To finish this review (which more or less transformed into a more historical article and a series of ramblings ) let’s finish with my short conclusion on the two tracks on the EP; The original mix is really strong, and the Andreas Henneberg is also a quite good track on its own – especially for the clubbier sets. Worth checking out.

nice stuff. like that 80s feel twisted into todays techno sounds. remix is cool, very nice to hear how he turned the original upside down and changed the feel completly with just work on rhythms and grooves.
leaves me curious for the next one from DS.

DS is in new hands, in expert hands and it's great news.
The heydays of (Prog) Trance are behind us : 2005/ 2004 with Ticon's and Son Kite's biggest achievements so far, and DS edited the finest pages of that heroic history.

A new chapter is being written with a complete new direction, and the intro is tasty!

For reasons that have been well said by PrOfane and A. Balter himself, the Henneberg version has my preference too.

Looking forward to the releases of A. Balter's new tracks which play a key role in Yuli's demented DJ sets...